Friday, April 29, 2016

North Texas inventory crisis shows small signs of relief



North Texas inventory crisis shows small signs of relief



The North Texas housing market, like the rest of the nation, struggles with extremely tight inventory, especially given that it is consistently one of the hottest housing markets in America. However, a new report gives a small indicator that this could possibly start to change.
According to an article by Steve Brown for The Dallas Morning News, new listings were up by 20% annually, and the total number of houses on the market was up by 4%, the first increase in a couple of years.
“We are finally seeing inventory move up,” said David Brown with housing consultant Metrostudy Inc. “At the very end of last year we began to see more people listing their homes.”
Brown said this doesn’t mean the local housing market is about to shift gears.
“Inventories are still incredibly tight,” he said.
In February there was only a 2.1-month supply of houses listed for sale with real estate agents in North Texas.
A normal market is considered to be a 6-month inventory.
“We would have to see inventory jump 50% before we started talking about a shift in supply and demand,” Brown said. “Up until this point inventory hasn’t been growing because we have an incredible pent up demand.”
Meanwhile, luxury homes sales continue to be one of the strongest sectors in the Texas housing market, with sales growing by 12.4% from January to October 2015.
Source: The Dallas Morning News